Newsletter for September, 2016
From Our Minister:
Beginning Again, in Covenant
In UU congregations throughout the country, the summer months are often a time for an alternative approach to congregational life. Some of us travel away from church; some of us stay home and take a break from church; some of us come every Sunday, no matter the season. New teachers and leaders step into new roles, as some of you did this summer to run Hogwarts Academy for Young UUs, in which the world of Harry Potter was explored as a way of investigating our UU faith and values. I also got to learn some new steps, by hosting Bart Campolo, who serves as humanist chaplain at USC, and Ani Zonneveld, president and founder of Muslims for Progressive Values, in the pulpit. Both of these preachers seemed to “strike a chord” with those who heard them, and I found them late into the morning still here among us, fielding your questions and concerns, and engaging in supportive and provocative conversations well into coffee hour. This made me glad, because that is how bridges are built and how new relationships are formed and strengthened.
Thank you to our volunteer worship leaders and pulpit hosts this summer: Leon Henderson-MacLennan, Rima Snyder, and Margot Page. Thank you to all our RE teachers and volunteers, as well, those who brought us through the summer together, and into this new church year.
The new church year is a time of new beginnings. We are welcoming Dr. Zanaida Robles as our director of music, and we are getting very close to finding our next director of religious exploration. We are launching a Right Relations Task Force to support us in speaking and listening to one another more skillfully and to keep working to address the conflict and division present among us, with compassion and in alignment with our UU values. This is continuing work, and this is new work — both are true.
This year, we will join over 190 UU congregations in sharing monthly themes through Soul Matters Sharing Circles. Soul Matters is a UU collaborative that brings UUs and UU congregations into closer community as we share theme-Covenantbased materials throughout the church year, from September to June. In this experimental year, we will be “trying on” Soul Matters materials, resources, and community connections. You can learn more about Soul Matters on their website at www.soulmatterssharingcircle.com and through their Facebook page.
This month, interestingly enough, we join our sibling congregations from New Orleans to New England, and from Calgary to Phoenix, to “begin again” with “Covenant,” which was our theme for May, close to the end of our church year. Together, we will revisit some of the aspects of covenant we began to explore four months ago, while coming along on this next step of our journey together. It is a new opportunity for us to wrestle with, understand, and embody covenant in new and deeper ways, together and in service to our covenantal faith.
With you,
Rev. Rebecca
From Our President:
Building Right Relations and Making New Acquaintances
The Long Term Right Relations Task Force is operative. Its members are: Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur, Helen Brown, Leon Henderson-MacLennan, Emily Linnemeier, Vilma Ortiz, Margot Page, Tom Peters, Beth Rendeiro, Sue Stoyanoff, John Sussman, James Witker.
Please thank each of them for committing to the project and expressing with time and action their dedication to the community. They have begun the work with our consultant, Nancy Edmundson. You’ll be hearing more of how you may be involved in the coming weeks. Timely reports will follow.
Another issue: The board wants to provide information and transparency. How would you best receive such information? Speak to a board member and let us know what works most comprehensively for you. Don’t just send an email or letter — speak to them. Conversations make acquaintances, which just might lead to friendship.
And a suggestion: How many new acquaintances have you made at church in the past three months? I note that we tend to drift to our usual group of people during the social hours.
We have the social/cultural/spiritual context in which to meet folks with whom we don’t have acquaintance but do have commonality (like the UU Principles). Let us stop talking about being a community and actually create a more cohesive one. Meet at least two new people and follow up by connecting regularly with them.
Cold-calling for acquaintance may be frightening, terrifying, exciting, pleasing…. I could go on, but just spot someone who looks interesting and tell them that “Ron said I had to do this in order to make the church a better place.” We will all benefit.
Fondly, Ron
—Ron Crane
Featured Articles:
Past President Ray Goodman Turns 96 September 6
Ray was raised in a Jewish household where he learned fluent Hebrew and led a youth group at his synagogue in Chicago. He attended the University of Chicago School of Medicine and received postgraduate training in internal medicine at the Los Angeles County Hospital. His postgraduate training was interrupted by military service during World War II that included a stint as medical director of a U.S. Marine Hospital in northern China, and marriage to his wife Betty in 1943. After the war, Ray and Betty returned to California where he finished his medical training and started a private practice in Beverly Hills, where they raised their five children. Ray later obtained a Masters Degree in Public Health at UCLA and served as a member of the volunteer faculty in medicine and public health. In recent years he has been a major philanthropist for the UCLA School of Public Health. Thanks to his beneficence three students each year are awarded scholarships from the Ray and Betty Goodman bequest. Betty was a life-long Unitarian, with family members serving UU congregations as ministers. Thus, Ray became a Unitarian. He and Betty joined UUSM during the ministry of the Rev. Ernie Pipes. Ray served two terms as president in the late 1980s, and he played an important early role in fundraising efforts for upgrading our facilities in the early 1990s. Betty died about nine years ago, so Ray hasn't attended church as often as he did previously. But he remains a committed UU and member of this church. We are grateful for his many contributions to our congregational life.Alice Hall Photographs Rev. Rebecca
Rev. Rebecca and this newsletter thank church member and professional photographer Alice Hall for contributing the new photo of Rebecca that appears in her column.
LA native Alice S. Hall’s interest in photography began in high school. A graduate of Art Center College of Design, she’s had her own studio in Hollywood, been a staff photographer for NBC Network for 12 years, and taught photography at Burbank High School and Burbank Adult School. She continues to work as a still photographer in the entertainment and corporate worlds.
Alice has lived in Santa Monica since 2001. She started attending UUSM in 2008 because she wanted to see the church her Grandfather Taft helped to establish. Having never been a member of a church community, she just joined this year. She has been involved with the Hunger Task Force, and is currently a coffee server.
To see Alice’s photography, please visit www.ashphoto.com
Quotes About Covenant
Lois Hutchinson has provided these quotations that relate to our ministerial theme for September.
You have a new heart. That’s the promise of the new covenant. — John Eldredge
Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment... — Thomas Jefferson
Together — one of the most inspiring words in the English language. Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. — Edward Everett Hale
Building a boat isn’t about weaving canvas, forging nails, or reading the sky. It’s about giving a shared taste for the sea, by the light of which you will see nothing contradictory but rather a community of love. — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Interweaving Alfresco
Dozens of us congregated on the patio following the church service July 31 for the annual Interweave and Women’s Alliance Picnic. Our donations gave us delicious food from the grill and from tables abundant with salads, fruits and baked goods, and helped support The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer/
questioning (BGLTQ) young people. Troubadours Karl Lisovsky and Tom Ahearn filled the air with their airs,
lending festive notes to the feast. In the midst of it all, artist Deborah Hermann freehanded SUPPORT GROCERY WORKERS on a poster board while those of us with the will but not the skill colored in the letters.
—Rick Rhoads
News & Announcements:
Rev. Rebecca Introduces New Choir Director Zanaida Robles
Heart and Soul Services Scheduled
A Contemplative Worship Service
Second Sundays, 5 to 5:45 pm in the Sanctuary
September 11 — A Community of Covenant
In consultation with our minister, we are continuing the Heart and Soul services, now led by Kikanza Nuri-Robins, Joyce Holmen, and Karen Hsu Patterson. With singing and instrumental music, statements and questions, silence and sharing, we’ll explore these themes:
October 9 — A Community of Healing
November 13 — A Community of Story
December 11 — A Community of Presence, (a virtual service: we’ll send resources by email)
Other committee members are Mary Romanek, Andrea Steffan, and Jacki Weber. As the author Margaret J. Wheatley observes, “Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals who can go it alone.” So let’s make some time to consider together what Community means to us.
Save the Dates and Spread the Word - Salute Minister Emeritus Ernie Pipes October 22-23 as He Turns 90
Affectionately known as Ernie, the Rev. Ernest D. Pipes has served Unitarian Universalism in the Pacific Southwest District since 1956, including 35 years in the pulpit at our Santa Monica congregation. Born October 6, 1926, Ernie celebrates his 90th birthday next month. Gracious as always, he has allowed UU Santa Monica to throw him a birthday luncheon Saturday, October 22, and to celebrate with him at receptions following our 9 and 11 am services Sunday, October 23, which will in turn be followed by the 25th Annual Ernest D. Pipes Lecture.
This anniversary year, the Pipes Lecturer will be the Rev. Dr. William F. “Bill” Schulz, who delivered the first Pipes lecture. Rev. Schulz, a longtime friend of Ernie, has served as president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, executive director of Amnesty International USA, and, until July of this year, as president and CEO of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Our minister emerita, the Rev. Judith Meyer, will preach the Sunday services October 23 and join in the weekend celebration of Ernie and in remembering his wife and partner in ministry, Maggie Pipes, who died in 2012.
All are welcome! Many thanks to Patrick McGuire, the lead organizer of the festivities. Dave Olson has generously offered his Brentwood home and gardens for the luncheon, which is tentatively planned for 1 pm Saturday, October 22 (Forbes Hall if rain). Please RSVP to office@uusm.org or by phone to the church office if you plan to attend the Saturday luncheon. If you have any questions or thoughts about the celebration, please contact Patrick. There will be more details in the October newsletter.
—Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur
Building News:
Let There Be Light at UU Santa Monica: SoUL Lighting Project Update
Appearances may be that we are done, but we are not quite there. We met with our lighting control people in August. The control system is not fully operational yet but will be soon. We are still adding more theatrical capabilities, adding lighting back into the “jungle” (the planted area behind the pulpit) and adding our LED lighting for the entry of the Sanctuary. In addition, we need to connect and replace the Sanctuary exterior and perimeter lighting with energy-efficient LED lighting. All our perimeter/exterior lighting was disconnected when the Arizona Courtyard was constructed. We have been without that lighting for a long time. Bringing this lighting back on line will add safety to our campus (so we don’t trip!). Then, as planned, we will provide training and list protocols for lighting system interface to the appropriate people.
This is all getting to completion in stages, as we are relying on volunteer effort and many folks have been away on vacation during the summer, including our technical advisors. Our project continues to be well under budget. Thank you, thank you, our dedicated volunteers.
— Our Electrical and Lighting Task Force: Brad Hutchinson, Nurit Gordon, Beth Brownlie, Bryan Oakes, and Karl Lisovsky.
Faith in Action News:
Trial of UU Anti-racists Starts September 6
The trial of our congregant, Hugo Contreras, starts Tuesday, September 6. The charges, which were announced by the Orange County District Attorney July 30, stem from a demonstration opposing a Ku Klux Klan rally February 27 in Pearson Park, Anaheim.
Hugo, Mark Liddell of First UU LA, and their friend and high school Spanish teacher Nikki Schop, along with four other anti-racist protestors, have been charged with various counts of misdemeanor assault, battery, and resisting arrest. None of the Klan members have been charged, including one who stabbed four protestors. The police claim he was acting in self-defense.
As if to demonstrate the multi-racial unity needed in the anti-racist movement, Hugo is Latino, Mark is Black, and Nikki is white.
The Anaheim police officer who arrested Hugo broke his (Hugo’s) shoulder. After months of immobilization followed by physical therapy, Hugo was cleared to return to work as an LA County library aide, but the County terminated his employment.
Thanks for your financial help! More needed!
Many of you have contributed to the legal defense of Hugo, Mark, and Nikki through donations to the UU Santa Monica FIA Legal Defense Fund and through faithify.org, the UU crowd-source fundraising site. Thank you! We set a goal of $5,000 on Faithify. If we hadn’t reached $5,000, the money would have been returned to the contributors. Donations from dozens of UU Santa Monica members and friends, UUs and others from around the country, and $200 from UUSM voted by our Board of Directors helped put us over the top. Our attorney, Tom Kielty, is doing a great job. But the expenses continue to mount. (Almost all defendants in the US “justice” system agree to plead guilty to lesser—than often inflated—charges because they cannot afford adequate legal defense.) If you can write a check (tax deductible) to UUSM, memo line FIA-Legal, we would greatly appreciate it.
Standing up to racism is one of the many ways we put our faith into action. Please help support these dedicated anti-racists. (Full disclosure: I am Hugo’s wife.)
— Sarah Mae Harper
Are You Aware?
Disabilities can be visible or invisible. Invisible disabilities include sensitivities to chemicals and fragrances, cardiac issues, hearing loss, psychiatric disorders, and epilepsy.
You can help by assuming there are always persons with hidden disabilities in a group. Consider this in group directions, e.g., “Please rise in body or spirit,” and plan for quick stretch breaks every 30 to 45 minutes.
You can help by talking with the Disability Support Group and others in the Church about ways to improve support for persons with disabilities in our church community or by sharing your concerns and needs. Not sure whom to contact? Look for Mark Christiansen, Michael Young, Steve Young, or Sylvia Young.
FAITH IN ACTION IS PROUD TO PRESENT
Muslim and Jewish Women React: AN AMERICAN RESPONSE TO THE POLITICS THAT PROMOTE BIGOTRY & HATE
Sunday, September 4, 1-4 pm in the Sanctuary
This special panel discussion and interactive salon will feature Soraya Deen, founder of the Muslim Women Speakers Movement, and other activists, scholars and peacemakers confronting divisiveness and bigotry in our time. We will hear the stories of four women, who will share their struggles and strengths and call us to a new awareness of why Americans must say NO to fear and hate. Contact: James Witker for more information.
WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? A faith perspective on the LUVE initiative
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 7:15 TO 8:45 PM
Hopefully you know about love, but you may not be aware of an initiative on this fall’s ballot in Santa Monica that has nothing to do with love. The Land Use Voter Empowerment (LUVE) ballot measure claims to curb overdevelopment, but it impacts our city far beyond a few buildings and it cuts at the root of the tenets of our spirituality-based traditions. This presentation will give you:
• the biblical stories and values from which to view this issue
• specific information about what it will do
• what it will not do and
• how to tell the difference
The event, sponsored by CLUE-Santa Monica (Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice), will be held in the Sanctuary of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, at 18th and Arizona. Parking is free at UCLA Medical Center, 16th and Arizona.
This measure may damage our quality of life in this city more than any other on this year’s ballot!
Faith in Action Forum Postponed
The Faith in Action forum on Strategy for Fighting Racism planned for September 11 has been postponed until further notice. We continue to be involved in anti-racist struggles and we welcome your support and participation. Please stop by the FIA table in Forbes Hall and get on the Peace & Social Justice Committee email list.
Rally for Grocery Workers
On Sunday, July 31, a group of us walked from the Interweave picnic to the Vons at Euclid and Wilshire to let the workers know that we were ready to support them if they went out on strike. 50,000 SoCal grocery workers had voted in June to authorize the United Food & Commercial Workers to strike if necessary (their contract had expired in March). We gave out flyers from the union and from our Peace & Social Justice Committee (PSJ) to shoppers as they entered and left the store, and we marched through the aisles of the store chanting, “Support grocery workers! Their fight is our fight!” The workers greeted us with smiles and raised fists. The PSJ flyer read,
• All working people should support grocery workers!
• If they strike, do NOT cross their picket lines!
• Walk in solidarity with them!
• Workers have been facing cutbacks, givebacks, speedup and unemployment for decades.
• When workers fight back, they fight back for all of us!
Black, Latin, Asian, white, men & women—Unite!
During the first week of August, the union announced a tentative settlement, which the workers voted to accept. Many of the contract details, such as guaranteed hours for part time workers, are not yet known. Apparently, the current pension and health care plans remain in place and the highest paid workers get a total raise of 85 cents an hour over the next three years, with entry-level workers starting at about 40 cents over minimum wage. Many grocery workers have told us that they have to work two jobs to survive, often mentioning that their rents have increased far faster than their wages.
—Rick Rhoads
Anti-Racism Demonstration
At the arraignment of anti-racist demonstrators Hugo Contreras, Mark Liddell, and Nikki Schop July 28 in Fullerton. While others packed the courtroom, some continued to picket outside the North Justice Center.
Report from Behind the Supermarket Checkstand
UU Santa Monica congregant and retired supermarket worker Larry Weiner was in Honolulu when he responded to our request to write this article. Larry and his wife, Laura Carlson-Weiner, also a member of our church, were getting their son Jacob Weiner settled in at college. Jacob, a 2016 graduate of Culver City High School and of our YRUU program, earned an athletic scholarship from Hawaii Pacific University through his prowess as a baseball catcher. His 4.0 average didn’t hurt either. Larry has been a teacher in our RE program for 10 years, at every level from second grade to Coming of Age. “I always told Catherine to put me where she needs me most,” said Larry.
In my 35 years in the grocery industry in a union shop I can tell you that finding respect from management was a mixed bag. The company’s attitude seemed to be, “Employees are overpaid because they are unionized, so [bleep] them.” If your manager happened to be a good human being, things went well. If not, you were in trouble.
There was nothing in the contract about kindly scheduling. For a family event, I put in a request for a day off two weeks in advance, but did not get it. The assistant manager told me that because bad scheduling had destroyed her marriage, she threw requests for days off in the trash without reading them. Fortunately not all my managers were like her.
There was also “productivity monitoring.” The companies have a computer program that records how many dollars per hour and rings per minute a cashier achieves. The numbers were often used to badger cashiers about their speed. Some badgered cashiers attempted to raise their ratings by logging off their registers after each order to bag groceries, then logging in to start the next order. This practice resulted in slower service but better numbers. Productivity monitoring also discouraged quality service. Sometimes doing something extra for a customer just takes longer.
But the thing that did me in was the ergonomics of the supermarket checkout stand. I spent 40 plus hours a week for the last 12 years of my “career” essentially standing on one leg and leaning to the right. In major chain supermarkets in Southern California, such as Ralphs and Vons, the checkstands all face in the same direction, with cashiers constantly reaching to their right to grab groceries. Since I cared about my customers, if I saw eggs, for example, I would reach over and pull them out, scan them, and place them in a safe place in the bagging area.
In 12 years I essentially ground out all the cartilage in my right hip by constantly leaning to the right, and later required a hip replacement. My left hip was and still is perfect. Non-union employers such as Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Target seem to have figured out that alternating the direction of the checkstands is more employee-friendly ergonomically. But I think the main reason they do it is to avoid Workers Comp claims for repetitive stress injuries. Some non-union employees get monitored for productivity just like their union counterparts. It comes down to how the managers decide to use their data. And this ultimately comes down to whether you have a manager who stands for the inherent worth and dignity of his or her employees or not. Unfortunately for workers in food retailing, this is a matter of the luck of the draw.
— Larry Weiner
Splinters from the Board:
Our First Endowment Fund Established
Dear beloved community,
Your board handled the following items at its August meeting.
Update on DRE search
Barbara Kernochan of the Personnel Committee brought an updated job description for the Director of Religious Exploration (DRE) position, which the board approved. Nalani Santiago- Kalmanson updated the search, stating that the committee received approximately five resumes and were doing a first round of interviews. Committee members will narrow the applicants to the top few and do in-person interviews. They hope to have a DRE hired by the end of September. Meanwhile a group of dedicated parents and volunteers are running our RE program. (The search committee is Leon Henderson-MacLennan and Jo An Peters, co- chairs; Nalani Santiago-Kalmanson, Denise Helton, James Witker, Dan Patterson, and the Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur.)
Board covenant of right relations
The Board had its own “right relations” retreat in June with consultant Nancy Edmundson. At that time we were charged with drafting a covenant of right relations for the board. Kikanza Nuri-Robins and Jacki Weber took the lead on this. The board approved this covenant unanimously. We acknowledge that we have to work on practicing the right relations covenant with each other as well as with the community.
Right Relations Long Range Task Force
The board affirmed the appointment of the members of the long range right relations task force. (President Ron Crane discusses the task force in his column on page X.) The board gratefully thanks these members for taking on this work. They have already started to work with Nancy Edmundson, including reviewing the training materials, and will be meeting soon.
Investment Committee brings motion to establish our first UUCCSM endowment
Our congregation voted overwhelmingly last February to set up an endowment fund with a portion of the funds that were bequeathed to UU Santa Monica. The board appointed the investment committee in March. Co-chairs Steven DePaul and Joe Englemen, along with Jeffrey Ellis and James Duckworth, provided their recommendations in writing to the board and brought a motion to establish our UU Santa Monica endowment fund and invest it with the larger UUA General Endowment fund in the initial amount of $156,000. The motion passed unanimously.
Finance/treasurer update
Our church received a bequest from the estate of Ralph Meyer of $18,500. This money was received and distributed in the “funds” as set forth by our Committee on Money resolutions. We were informed that our church will receive an additional bequest from the Meyer estate in the near future. We are very grateful for this generous gift. On a separate note, the actual pledges received for July are down a bit and we encourage everyone to make their pledges in a timely way to keep our operating budget in the black and to support our wonderful ministry and programs.
Music Committee
The music committee, through the efforts of Leslie Beauvais and Diana Spears, is sponsoring a fundraiser for our Music Fund September 11, after the board-sponsored Second Sunday Supper. Our own Leslie Beauvais is headlining “Leslie and Friends.” Our music fund was very depleted and we have to raise at least $2,000 or more every year, outside of the operating budget, to help cover the basics such as our choir section leaders, printed music, the choir retreat, and guest musicians. Thank you, Leslie and Diana. Suggested donation: $15 or pay what you can. Y’all come!
Discussion regarding how the board can be more involved in and supportive of our community
We had a discussion about how the board can continue and increase its involvement and support across our community’s groups, committees, and task forces, some of which are up and running well, while others are in need of more energy, leadership, or resources. This is an ongoing discussion that the board will take up at the board retreat on September 24 and during the coming year..
Motion to support the UUCCSM “Faithify” crowd funding for the anti-racist legal defense
The board passed a motion to donate $200 to Faithify in the name of UU Santa Monica, for the legal defense fund. In addition the board supports and encourages our community to donate to help them reach the funding
goal of $5,000.
The board would like to hear from our community
Contact any member individually or come to the board meetings, which are the second Tuesday of each month at 6:45 pm in Forbes Hall. We are now posting the executive committee agenda and the board agenda on the members-only section of uusm.org ahead of the meetings. We are posting all board reports as well as the minutes of the meetings as well.
The board is hosting the Second Sunday Supper on September 11 at 5:45 pm. The theme is homecoming. See you there.
Kim Miller (subbing for Patricia Wright)
RE News:
BE AN ADULT OWL
O.W.L. for Adults (18-98) is swooping back into UU Santa Monica for four more sessions (the first five were in the spring).
Please join us to explore adult sexuality. You are welcome to attend even if you weren’t part of the spring sessions. The first meeting is Saturday, September 24 from 1 to 5 pm in Forbes Hall. The final three sessions will take place October 8 and 29 and November 5.
Here are grade 8/9 O.W.L. September dates to note:
• Sept. 11 - Part II Parent Orientation for 8/9 O.W.L. 1 - 4pm Forbes Hall
• Sept. 23 - 8/9 Youth O.W.L. Potluck Launch 6:30 - 10pm Forbes Hall
Questions? Contact Beth Rendeiro.
California’s Groundbreaking Law Authorizing Medical Aid in Dying: Does it Promote UU Principles?
The End of Life Discussion Group hosts a two-part presentation: Part I: Compassion & Choices Presents “Everything You Need to Know About the New California End of Life Option Act” Sunday, September 25, 7 pm, in the Sanctuary.
Following in the footsteps of Oregonian UU’s who drafted a ballot initiative 20 years ago, the California legislature passed, and Governor Brown signed into law, the End of Life Option Act, which became effective June 9, 2016. This law permits terminally ill patients with mental capacity, under certain conditions, to make a choice regarding when and where to end life, peacefully and painlessly, by means of aid-in-dying medication prescribed by their doctors. Joe Barnes, California Outreach Manager of Compassion & Choices, will discuss the history of the legislation and the legal rights and obligations therein. What does the statute provide for? How do I obtain the medication? Can my doctor refuse me a prescription and, if so, what do I do? Under what conditions am I eligible to get the prescription? Is there any protection against coercion by relatives? What is the cost of the medication and will insurance cover it?
Part II: End of Life Discussion Group Presents Sundance Award-Winning Documentary “How to Die in Oregon” Monday, September 26, 7 pm in Forbes Hall.
The film describes the enactment and implementation of the Oregon law and follows several Oregonians in their decision-making process about whether and when to end life. In addition to the patients, we meet Compassion & Choices volunteer advocates, physicians, and family members who walk with the patients through the process, and learn how the choices affect them. Finally, we have a chance to reflect on how these stories impact us and our perceptions about dying, including what makes a good death, the moral implications of choosing to hasten death, and whether the medical aid in dying laws promote or circumvent the 1st, 2nd, and 7th UU Principles.
Facilitators: Audrey Lyness and Joyce Holmen.
Parents, Register Your Kids for RE!
Wanted, 4 More Volunteers
Our children and youth programming during both our services is now offered on Sundays. With the exception of YRUU, youth activities will happen in the Cottage with all ages K through 8th grade participating together at both services. Our age-specific programming for preschoolers through eighth graders will start September 25, by which time we should know who our new Director of Religious Exploration (DRE) is—and he or she may even be in place.
Parents, please fill out registration forms for your participating youth and children. Church members, we still need four volunteers for our regular age-specific programming — specifically working with K-2nd grades and 3rd-5th grades.
We are fortunate in this interim period to have the expert support and capable mind of Emmalinda MacLean, the DRE at Emerson Church, who is working with Rev. Rebecca and the Children and Youth Subcommittee to help with all the work the beginning of the year in Children and Youth programming involves.
Thank you, as always, for your care and support of our RE programs!
Gratefully,
Sabina Mayo-Smith for your LRE Children and Youth Committee, Emmalinda MacLean, and Reverend Rebecca
Any questions can be directed to Rev. Rebecca, minster@uusm.org.
All-Church Camp Weekend September 16-18, 2016
SIGN UP AT CHURCH OR ONLINE AT http://tinyurl.com/2016uuccsmcamp
Each year, UUSM members and friends flock to Camp de Benneville Pines, an idyllic rustic paradise two hours east of Santa Monica (if you leave at the right time on Friday) for a weekend of reveling in nature, ping pong tournaments, dam building, s’mores, tie-dying and sing-along versions of every ‘60s song you know (or don’t).
You are invited to join us! Singles, couples and families young and old enjoy clean mountain air, lots of activities, great camp food and fellowship. Rustic heated cabins are clean and comfortable, with indoor plumbing and hot showers, for “roughing it, gently.”
Prices start at $145/person for adults, $85/person for kids and $110 for teens, and that includes all food and activities for the weekend!
This year we are also offering a limited number of financial aid “camperships” for those who need it. If that’s your situation, your camp fee is just half-price (down to $70 per adult), and FREE for kids/teens. Or alternately, if you’re flush with cash, you could contribute to the campership pot, which’d help even more campers make it to
de Benneville in September. A full camp is a happy camp and we aim to be very happy.
Contact Jacki Weber for more information.
Summer 2016 Adult RE Groups
GROUPS CONTINUING IN SEPTEMBER
Thursday Night Centering Meditation
Participants can choose: First and third Thursday OR Second and fourth Thursday:
We will do Centering Meditation where you choose a word to say silently to yourself as you enter the silence. You can choose a word such as peace, love, joy, etc. There will be a brief time of comments, sharing and questions. We will end the evening with a guided Mindfulness meditation. Please contact facilitator Bettye Barclay beforehand
Monday Night Monthly Meditation
“An Enjoyable Dive into the Who and What We Are”
We endeavor to answer the questions, “Who am I?” (attitudes and beliefs) and “What am I?” (essence or true nature). This class will include meditations that explore participants’ spiritual goals. The monthly group meetings will also focus on insights gained throughout the month. The class is open to everyone from beginners to experienced. No meditation experience required. Participants are encouraged to cultivate a regular meditation practice.
September 12, Forbes Room 1, 7 to 9:30 pm
Facilitator Bill Blake. Co-facilitator Dave Watson
NEW GROUP FOR SEPTEMBER
“Just Mercy”
“Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption,” by Bryan Stevenson (2014, Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House) was last year’s UUA Common Read. But our congregation wanted more than just one class! Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, has dedicated his legal career to defending those who are trapped by an often capricious, political, and willfully unjust criminal justice system — poor people, people of color, children, and others over whom the system has run roughshod. It speaks to justice, mercy, and compassion, themes of concern to us as Unitarian Universalists and as human beings. This is a two-session class. The second session ends just in time for Second Sunday Supper.
September 4 and 11, 4 to 5:30 pm, Room TBD
Facilitator Natalie Kahn
You can purchase your book online at www.uuabookstore.org
A free online study guide is also available at the same website.
Music News:
Leslie Beauvais and Friends: MUSIC FUND BENEFIT CONCERT
Sanctuary • Sunday, September 11 • 7:30 - 9 pm
following Second Sunday Supper
When our own talented singer/songwriter and actress, the lovely Leslie Beauvais, learned that our Music Fund was nearly depleted, she stepped up to lead a Concert to Benefit the Music Fund.
Billed as Leslie Beauvais and Friends, the concert will include our talented pianist Daniel Gledhill, Alto Choir Section Leader Jyvonne Haskin, and bass/baritone Tom Ahern.
Leslie will be accompanied by three esteemed music professionals, her longtime bass guitarist/composer and friend Jime Van Booven, incomparable guitarist/producer Ed Tree, and composer, teacher and jazz saxophonist Scott Roewe.
A requested donation of $15 or whatever you can afford to help replenish our Music Fund will be appreciated.
Let us welcome our new Music Director, Dr. Zanaida Robles, when our choir returns September 25, with a restored Music Fund.